Rapid deployment vehicle wash platform

ABSTRACT

A convertible wash platform ( 10 ) for motor vehicles ( 11 ). The wash platform ( 10 ) has a plurality of modules ( 22 ) adapted to be reconfigurable between a first configuration and a second configuration. In the first configuration, the plurality of modules ( 22 ) defines the wash platform ( 10 ). At least some of the modules include water collection portions. In the second configuration, the plurality of modules ( 22 ) integrally define a transportable unit, whereby the transportable unit can be transferred to a deployment site and can be readily reconfigured into the wash platform ( 10 ) of the first configuration for use at the deployment site.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For safety and other reasons, it is often desirable to wash a vehiclebefore it leaves a particular site or location. Such situations canarise from natural disasters, man-made disasters, military activities,and even terrorist attacks.

Asbestos, glass particles and caustic powder are among the manycontinuing dangers after the collapse of a building. The World TradeCenter towers contained 5000 tons of asbestos for insulation, just inthe structural steel. This asbestos was part of the dust clouds thatrolled through lower Manhattan and settled surrounding the site.

To protect people outside the contaminated zones, persons and vehiclesmust be cleaned prior to leaving the area. Because of the thin fibersinherent to asbestos, this kind and other contaminated dust must betaken up wet. While individuals can be decontaminated in tent stations,that they must leave the contaminated site through, heavy vehicles suchas fire trucks and transport vehicles require a thorough vehicle wash sothey do not contaminate outside the hot zone.

Vehicle wash systems capable of washing large trucks are generallymassive systems at fixed locations. Trucks drive through spray arches toreach all sides of the vehicle. Water and chemical cleaning solutionsare pumped throughout the system and water is collected and recycled ordisposed of.

Disasters, military activities and terrorist attacks can occur anywherein the world and, as such, vehicles need to be washed of contaminants inmany different locations with the equipment being provided to theselocations quickly and by means of various modes of transportation.

The ability to ship a system over road, rail, ocean and air, along withthe ability for it to be lifted by various means, are desirablerequirements.

The transportation industry, as well as the Department of Defense, hasan ongoing initiative to standardize shipping containers so they may beeasily deployed using truck, train, ship or plane. The United Statesparticipates in ANSI/ISO under the sponsorship of the American NationalStandards Institute. ANSI/ISO Technical Committee 104 handles a varietyof matters related to freight containers. The Department of Defense andmany other organizations have adopted these standards for transportcontainers.

In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a vehicle washplatform that can be easily transported and rapidly deployed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a portable vehicle wash platform, capable ofwashing large trucks, that can be broken down and reconfigured such thatthe reconfigured platform itself forms a standard ANSI/ISO “container”that can be lifted by standard container handling equipment and can betransported by standard modes of container transportation.

A vehicle wash system that can be broken down and reconfigured into acontainer size that complies with the standards for ANSI/ISO containerscould be rapidly deployed to a disaster zone or other location to washvehicles exiting the site and reduce the risk of contamination in thesurrounding areas.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a is a perspective view of a fully deployed wash station inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the wash station seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 a-3 g illustrate the wash station, seen in FIG. 1, in successiveconfigurations as it is being reconfigured into a shipping container orcontainerized platform;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a wash station according to a secondembodiment of this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a table illustrating various standard methods for liftingcontainers and the “containerized” wash platform of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description of the preferred embodiments are merelyexemplary in nature, and is in no way intended to limit the scope of theinvention or its application or uses.

In the preferred combination, a portable vehicle wash platform 10capable of washing large vehicles 11 such as trucks, cars,tractor-trailers, gravel or debris handlers, fire-trucks, and militaryvehicles is provided. The wash platform 10 can be disassembled andreconfigured as a standard sized ANSI/ISO container or containerizedplatform 12. The container 12 includes well known fittings 14 on itscorners which meet ISO standards and allow lifting of the container 12onto various means of transportation by different lifting methods. Oncethe containerized platform 12 is at the deployment site, it may bereadily reassembled into its wash platform 10 configuration. Thisreassembly can be performed by a variety of means including manually,with a crane or by an automatic mechanism, such as hydraulic means,built into the vehicle wash platform 10.

In one embodiment of the vehicle wash platform 10, six module portionsare provided. These module portions includes an entrance ramp 13 withtwo entrance ramp modules 14, 16 for the vehicle 11 to drive onto theplatform 10, an exit ramp 17 with two exit ramp modules 18, 20 for thevehicle 11 to drive off the platform 10 and two main platform modulesfor the vehicle to be supported upon while it is being washed. Severalviews of a vehicle wash platform 10 are shown in various stages ofdisassembly in FIGS. 1-3 g.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a spray arch 26 or multiple spray arches areattached to the main platform modules 22, 24 of the vehicle washplatform 10 to allow the vehicle 11 to pass therethrough and wash thetruck 11 from a variety of angles. The arch 26 may otherwise be per aconstruction well known in the vehicle wash industry. Plumbing 28 is runthrough the vehicle wash platform 10 to bring water and/or chemicals tothe spray arch 26, or the plumbing may connect directly to the arches.Various other mechanisms commonly necessary for vehicle washing can beself contained within the main modules and included in the system, asone skilled in the art will appreciate.

The main platform modules 22, 24 have a grate top surface 30 and builtin sloped internal surfaces 32 to divert the dirty water from thevehicle wash to an outlet 34, which could lead to a settling pitconstructed underneath the vehicle platform 10 or an integral pump (notshown) that sends the dirty water to another location for disposaland/or recycling. The entrance and exit ramps 13, 17 could also beprovided with internal surfaces directing the water to collection areasafter washing to be disposed of at a later time. The top portions of thevarious modules, for example in the areas of man-ways 36, are providedas removable panels for permitting access to the interior of the vehiclewash platform 10 and the various modules.

Provided according to this invention, the vehicle wash platform 10 canbe brought to and removed from the contaminated site in itscontainerized condition 12, which has the external dimensions andcapabilities of a standard ANSI/ISO shipping container. The overall orexternal dimensions of the containerized platform 12 is therefore 8 ft.(height)×8 ft. (width)×20 ft. (length) or 8 ft.×8 ft.×40 ft. Halfheights and other divisions of the container dimensions may also bepossible, so long as the end configuration of combined multiples is of astandard size.

FIGS. 3 a-3 g illustrate one method by which the six individual modulesof the vehicle wash platform 10 can be broken down and reconfiguredduring containerization. As will be apparent from the followingdiscussion, converting the containerized platform 12 into the vehiclewash platform 10 entails the reversal of the steps mentioned below.

Starting from the vehicle wash platform 10 seen in FIG. 3 a, endsupports 38 are added to low height ends 40, 41, 42, 43 of the entranceand exit ramp modules 14, 16, 18, 20. The end supports 38 provideupright extensions to the low height ends 40, 41, 42, 43 and extend to aheight corresponding with the height of the opposing ends of theentrance and exit modules 14, 16, 18, 20, about two feet in a full sizedstandard container version of the invention. The end supports 38 may beattached to the low height ends 40, 41, 42, 43 by various means,included having mounting tubes thereon inserted into recesses in theappropriate two corners of the modules 14, 16, 18, 20, fastening the endsupports with pins, bolts, screws, interlocks or other such means.

The first entrance module 14 is then positioned on main platform module22 such that its low height end 40 is centrally positioned on the mainplatform module 22, with its opposing end located toward the exit rampmodule 18.

Exit ramp module 18 is similarly moved and positioned on the mainplatform module 22. Its low height end 41 and end support 38 areaccordingly located adjacent to the low height end 40 and end support 38of the first entrance ramp module 14. This is generally seen in FIG. 3d.

In similar fashion, the second entrance ramp module 16 and the secondexit ramp module 20 are reconfigured and stacked on the first entranceramp module 14 and the first exit ramp module 18, respectively.Illustrations of the above two steps are seen in FIGS. 3 e and 3 f.

Finally, the second main platform module 24 is positioned on top of thesecond entrance and exit ramp modules 16, 20. (See FIG. 3 g). In thisconfiguration, the vehicle wash platform 10 has been containerized andbears the dimensions of a standard sized shipping container.

The various modules 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 26 are removeably secured withappropriate mechanisms to interlock or fit together when assembled. Suchinterlocks and mechanisms may include conventional fasteners, twistlocks and other mechanisms, both during containerization and deployment.

As mentioned above, standard ISO fittings are attached either afterassembly or built-in to the modules so that the containerized platform12 can be lifted by standard means and secured to the transport vehicleby standard securement methods. Examples of the lifting means andmethods for the containerized platform 12 are shown in FIG. 4, and areprovided such that the containerized platform 12 may be lifted bycranes, front-end lifts or other machinery. An example of such asecurement mechanism includes twist-locks.

After containerization, the containerized platform 12 is seen to haverecesses 48 or areas within it to store various wash system componentssuch as pumps, spray arches, plumbing means, hoses, etc.

Because of the standard size and ability to be handled by standardmeans, as indicated in FIG. 5, and transported by standard means, thecontainerized platform 12 can easily be transported via truck, rail,ship or air. The containerized platform 12 also will exhibit a gooddistribution of weight, which will aide in vehicle stability duringtransportation. If desired, the recesses 48 can be left open in thesides of the containerized platform 12 to reduce the effects of windduring transport.

As can be readily understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art,the vehicle wash platform 10 may include and utilize other suitabledevices and combinations. As seen in FIG. 4, a transportable and rapidlydeployable wash system 100 could be provided utilizing more than onecontainer. Such a system 100 includes the vehicle wash platform 10described above, and also includes one or more other standard sizedcontainers 102, 104. The containers 102, 104 are self-contained andinclude various other equipment required by the vehicle wash platform10, including, without limitation, pumps, valve systems, controlsystems, water heaters, chemical tanks, water softeners, generators,filters, water tanks, reclamation tanks, etc. Connecting of thecontainers 102, 104 and their equipment, to the vehicle wash platform 10is readily achieved by removing the man-ways 36 of one or both main washmodules 22, 24 and engaging the appropriate fittings and couplingsappropriately provided between the containers 102, 104 and the main washplatforms 22, 24.

The foregoing discussion discloses and describes a preferred embodimentof the invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize fromsuch discussion, and from the accompanying drawings and claims, thatchanges and modifications can be made to the invention without departingfrom the true spirit and fair scope of the invention as defined in thefollowing claims.

1. A convertible wash platform for motor vehicles, said wash platformcomprising: a plurality of interconnecting modules adapted to bereconfigurable between a first configuration and a second configuration,in said first configuration said plurality of modules defining said washplatform wherein at least some of said plurality of modules includewater collection portions, in said second configuration said pluralityof modules integrally defining a transportable unit whereby saidtransportable unit can be transported to a deployment site and can bereadily reconfigured into said wash platform of said first configurationfor use at the deployment site.
 2. The wash platform of claim 1 whereinsaid transportable unit is in the shape of a shipping container.
 3. Thewash platform of claim 2 wherein said shipping container conforms toANSI/ISO container specifications.
 4. The wash platform of claim 1wherein said transportable unit includes lift portions adapted to allowlifting of the transportable unit onto various means of transportation.5. The wash platform of claim 1 wherein at least some of said pluralityof modules include ramp portions to provide ingress and egress to andfrom said wash platform.
 6. The wash platform of claim 1 furthercomprising a plurality of removable panels on at least some of saidplurality of modules, said panels permitting access to inside of saidwash platform.
 7. The wash platform of claim 1 further comprising atleast one spray arch assembly.
 8. The wash platform of claim 1 furthercomprising plumbing means for directing water to said wash platform. 9.The wash platform of claim 1 wherein said plurality of modules includesat least three modules.
 10. The wash platform of claim 1 wherein saidplurality of modules includes six modules.
 11. The wash platform ofclaim 10 wherein said six modules include two entrance ramp modules, twoexit ramp modules and two main platform modules to be located betweensaid entrance ramp modules and said exit ramp modules in said firstconfiguration.